Colin Kaepernick #7 of the San Francisco 49ers looks on as Richard Sherman #25 and D'Anthony Smith #94 of the Seattle Seahawks celebrate a saftey during their game at Qwest Field on September 15, 2013 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman believes teams are now more willing to fumble away their playoff chances rather than sign free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

After the Washington Redskins lost their first two QBs — Alex Smith and Colt McCoy — to injury, the team has opted to go the bargain bin options of plugging Mark Sanchez and Josh Johnson to fill the void in the huddle. Redskins coach Jay Gruden insisted that the team’s decision not to bring Kaepernick in for even a workout was because they preferred a backup more familiar with his team’s offense — and that it had nothing to do with Kaepernick’s controversial kneeling protests during the National Anthem.

Sherman, however, clearly doesn’t believe there is any pretense anymore that Kaepernick, who led the 49ers to a Super Bowl, is being kept off the field for football-related reasons.

“You start to see stuff like that, and it’s almost like teams are purposely making it obvious that they’re freezing him out,” Sherman told NBC Sports’ Pro Football Talk on Monday. “Unfortunately there has, to this point, been nothing that the courts or the league has done about it, and that’s the disappointing part, because he’s a good football player. He didn’t commit a crime. He didn’t put his hands on anybody, murder anybody, you know, do anything that’s that insanely crazy that he deserves to be banned from our football league.”